Team Gantt: Best Software for Freelancing Project Management

By Adam C. Uzialko, B2B Staff Writer January 2, 2018 11:30 am EST

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Credit: Team Gantt

After conducting extensive research and analysis in 2018, we recommend TeamGantt as the best project management solution for teams with freelancers for 2018. We chose TeamGantt from a pool of dozens of project management solutions. To understand how we selected our best picks, you can find our methodology and a comprehensive list of project management solutions on our best picks page.

Why TeamGantt?

TeamGantt makes project management simple and user-friendly. When considering a project management solution for a team with freelancers, we tried to keep in mind that new faces will be cycling in and out of your team on a project-by-project basis. When that's the case, you need to be using software that new people can pick up quickly and easily. TeamGantt is that solution; it doesn't skimp on useful features, but it makes them easy to employ.

Features

TeamGantt's features for project planning and management are useful, if somewhat limited. While it lacks useful collaboration tools like an internal chat application, its planning features, especially Gantt charts, are a huge strength. The charts are easy to use, color-coded and intuitive, making charting less intimidating and helping project managers stay on top of every assigned task and milestone. Here's a list of the major features available for TeamGantt and a brief explanation of what it's like to use them:

Core features: The core features of TeamGantt stack up well to the competition. Creating a new project is as easy as launching it from scratch or uploading templates from other programs. TeamGantt also logs old projects and allows you to create duplicates if you often work on similar types of projects.

Permissions and user access: Upon inviting new members and collaborators, project managers and administrators can set permissions and access levels to retain total control over who can see and edit which aspects of the project.

Color-coded team members: Upon bringing on new team members, users can color-code them so Gantt charts are even easier to understand at a glance. Responsibilities and roles are also even clearer with a color-based organization system.

Resources: Resources are people, teams and other assets to your team. Each can be color-coded, much like individuals, making resource management and organization easy.

Tasks: Creating tasks is as simple as pointing and clicking, then you'll be given the option to assign due dates and responsibilities to team members. You can also group tasks and create milestones and dependencies, helping managers keep track of the project's progress.

Gantt charts: TeamGantt's biggest strength, as the name suggests, is its highly organized and interactive Gantt charts. Color coding helps make charts visually appealing and easy to navigate, and users can edit tasks and milestones directly in the chart. The interface supports drag-and-drop functionality, making it easy to rearrange and add to existing charts without much heavy lifting. TeamGantt will automatically update and reshuffle dependent tasks when users make any significant edits.

Time tracking: Time tracking is available in TeamGantt's advanced pricing tier. Team members can use a timer or manually enter the hours they worked on a particular task. If your team risks going over budget, TeamGantt will alert you with plenty of time before that happens. This way, project managers can make adjustments on the fly to avoid breaking the bank.

Charting tools

The charting tools are by far TeamGantt's biggest strength, and it bears repeating how intuitive they are. New team members or freelancers joining for a new project won't have to spend much time playing around with Gantt charts to understand how TeamGantt works. The drag-and-drop functionality and color-coding scheme make it easy for every team member to understand who is responsible for what, and which tasks are dependent on one another. The charts also make clear the deadline not just for the project, but for each individual task along the way.

If the project manager makes an edit or a task is not completed on time, TeamGantt can automatically reshuffle the timeline accurately and predict the impact on the project as a whole. This type of intelligent automation helps keep your team on task even when something goes wrong. It's important to be flexible when it comes to managing any project, and TeamGantt's charting tools help teams stay fluid and responsible for real-life changes.

Finally, the baseline comparison tools are useful for looking back at a project and examining the original plan versus the reality. This type of contextualized information is useful for creating more realistic plans in the future and understanding your team's strengths and weaknesses to better allocate resources.

Pricing

TeamGantt offers several pricing tiers to suit the needs of different sizes and types of teams. It also includes a limited free version, so you can give it a test spin before you decide to buy. Each plan is priced per user per month and comes with access to a 30-day free trial.

Free – The free version of TeamGantt supports up to three users and one project. Its features are necessarily limited, but it's enough to give you a sense of what using the software is like. Free users have access to one Gantt chart, workload forecasting, task dependencies and file transfers. In-app support is also available.

Standard – $7.90 per user per month, billed annually. This plan supports a minimum of five users and allows access to basic planning and management tools. It permits users to access custom project templates, unlimited resource management and baseline comparisons. Gantt charts become exportable and embeddable.

Advanced – $12.45 per user per month, billed annually. It supports a minimum of five users and includes every feature from the standard plan, plus more advanced tools like time tracking. It gives you more detailed reports and warnings when your team risks going over budget.

Enterprise – Enterprise plans are negotiable with the company and come with a dedicated account representative, onboarding assistance and training to help large teams with specific needs.

Customer service

Our customer service experience with TeamGantt was pleasant and informative. We never had to wait for long to speak with a representative, and we were always met with someone who was prepared to answer all of our questions about the software. We never felt pressured to buy, even when we told the representative on our first call that we weren't making any decisions that day. They continued to work with us in an attentive manner. The customer service phone line is available Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT. There is also a 24/7 email support line and an in-app support chatbot.

Like our other best picks, TeamGantt maintains a strong array of resources and videos for users to reference when they encounter any problems or find any questions. Project management software can be complex and intimidating, something TeamGantt has been able to avoid. But in the event a user becomes confused, an online community and plenty of resources should offset those concerns.

Limitations

TeamGantt faces limitations when it comes to collaboration tools. While there are team discussions and sticky notes that make collaborating easier, it lacks an integrated chat application. TeamGantt also fails to provide a way to integrate outside chat applications, so you'll have to minimize your workspace to send a one-off message to a colleague. This can be frustrating, but it's workable in the end, especially given TeamGantt's strengths when it comes to planning.

Another limitation is that TeamGantt seems to sacrifice more advanced functionality for charting supremacy. This isn't necessarily a problem, as TeamGantt excels at what it's made for. However, if you're looking for a thorough slate of features along with all the bells and whistles, TeamGantt is likely to disappoint. On the other hand, if you want a simple, easy-to-learn planning and management tool, TeamGantt delivers a quality product.

Adam received his Bachelor's degree in Political Science and Journalism & Media Studies at Rutgers University. He worked for a local newspaper and freelanced for several publications after graduating college. He can be reached by email, or follow him on Twitter.